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| Above is a photo of a Victorian child all bundled up for Winter in her lovely white wool. I layered these images with tinsel rosettes and purchased glittery snowflakes to create my version of this classic Victorian scrap ornament. |
Sometimes I assemble Victorian scrap ornaments for Christmas fairs. These particular versions are both simple and inexpensive to assemble. I do not sell them for much, only a few dollars each. Whenever you are preparing for a craft fair, it is best to create a wide variety of Christmas ornaments that are priced from $2.00 and up. Some of my ornaments sell for $25.00 dollars and others for pocket change. This is because all kinds of people visit craft fairs. Some of them are looking for truely unique, one-of-a-kind pieces, but there are always patrons that spend more impulsively or that are looking for inexpensive trims for packages. The latter are the folks that I supply Victorian scrap to because these ornaments costs me very little time, energy, and supply to craft. Most folks who attend craft fairs rarely consider profit margins for artisans. Americans are so familiar with purchasing items from manufactures that they have unrealistic expectations when it comes to buying handmade product. They do not take into account the labor or the initial costs in the acquisition of materials. However, if you wish to profit from such ventures, these are important considerations to make on your own. You need to develop product that satisfies the impulsive nature of some folks in order to compete with what they are most familiar with. Don't waste time producing too much inexpensive product though, just have a bit of it for those who expect it. Spend more time producing collectable pieces, for this is the reason to attend excellent craft fairs after all.
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Above you can see that I printed Victorian scrap ladies and then cut them to layer on top of purchased glittery feathers. I cleaned images myself in Photoshop. These were in the public domain and are easy to find all over the internet. |
The finale Christmas ornaments were crafted and assembled for the Christmas fair that I attended last year. I displayed the ornaments in a giant, shallow cardboard box. The box was wrapped in a subtle brown paper so that the full attention of the customers would be focused on the product. I also filled the bottom of the box with wood shavings supplied by my husband's woodworking interests. The shavings added a subtle, pleasant odor and also gave a kind of a folksy ambiance to my displays that year.
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